Concerns over school staff paperwork

An official from Perth and Kinross Council has expressed their concerns over the amount of paperwork required from school staff when applying for antipoverty funds.

Education Secretary John Swinney MSP raised the issue at parliament, saying he was “dismayed” that every application for antipoverty funds linked to extending the Read, Write, Count initiative required school staff to write a 200word justification for it.

This applies to primaries 1-3, but looks to be extended to all primary-school aged children.

The council official said: “I am slightly dismayed to note the requirement for such detail in the nomination form.

“Given the very clearly targeted approach you have outlined in the cover letter, the context of the schools we will nominate is obvious and should not need restated I would suggest.”

The Scottish Government replied to Mr Swinney’s comments saying: “We must all seek ways of ensuring that no unnecessary, additional work be asked of officers as well as schoolbased staff.”

However, the council official in question said they found this response disappointing rather than reassuring.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “We have asked for a small amount of background information on each nominated school so that we can share this with the Book Trust and make sure the Read, Write, Count programme can be tailored to local needs.

“But as we have already made clear to Perth and Kinross Council, we are more than happy to be flexible about how this information is obtained.”